Ashley Lok
Period 6
9/11/14
A Gender Affliction
While the Puritans’ religious beliefs hindered their ability to treat people of both sexes equally, the secular society of America allows the right of social equality to everyone, regardless of sex. Puritan beliefs stemmed from the words of Scripture, and many Puritans held strict religious principles that made them “able to instruct youth so far as they may be fitted for the university” (The Charter of Massachusetts Bay). But let us not forget that one of the stories taught was the story of Adam and Eve, one that both highlighted and condemned a woman’s vulnerability to temptation. This dogma became the source of many sexist laws, including “No woman should kiss her child on the Sabbath” and eventually led to the horrifying
Salem Witch trials of 1692, that decreed “If any woman be a witch, they shall be put to death”
(Blue Laws). Now, this begs the question, “Why did Puritans develop this bias against women? Didn’t the Scriptures put shame upon those who talked badly of others?” The truth is, upon coming to America, the Puritans already had a sense of masculine prominence. Prior to the Puritans’ landing on Massachusetts, sayings like working “together as one man” and
“entertaining each other in a brotherly affection” were used to describe the ways in which the
Puritans would live (City Upon a Hill). As much as the Puritans preferred that England keep to proper Biblical interpretation, they certainly did not put into account the harsh attitudes toward women in their principles of “equality” nor reflect our current attitudes toward women. In contrast, modern­day America ingrains social equality in its principles and ensures everyone the basic right of tolerance. We no longer condemn people seen as flaws of human creation, but admire them. For example, granting women